Corn & Cheese Chowder

It's been chilly the past few days and I thought a big pot of yummy soup would hit the spot.  Friday after work, Katie and I stopped at the grocery store and picked up the ingredients to make Corn and Cheese Chowder...and to make it even better I bought some Ciabatta bread to use as bread bowls.

The soup was excellent....unfortunately I wasn't thinking and didn't take a picture for the blog.  The original recipe came from Pioneer Woman; however I altered it a little.  The recipe I have below is a combination of her recipe, my alternations, and what I'll do differently next time!

This is a really good soup and I can see us having this often.  The only problem is that our local grocery store doesn't have a large quantity of bread so I was only able to buy two of the bread bowls....so if I wanted to serve several people I'd have to shop someplace else... or maybe I need to learn to make my own bread bowls.

Corn & Cheese Chowder

Source: Adapted from Pioneer Woman

4 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces
4 tablespoons butter
1 whole onion, diced
1 garlic clove, finely diced
12 sweet mini-peppers (red, yellow, orange) or 3 regular sized whole bell peppers, finely diced
2 (12 oz) packages Birdseye Steamfresh Gold & White Corn
1/4 cup flour
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups half and half
2 cups grated Monterrey jack cheese
1 cup grated pepper jack cheese
1/2 cup sliced green onions
salt and pepper
bread bowls (optional)

Place the 2 pkg of corn in the microwave and cook for 5 minutes.  In a dutch oven, cook the bacon until it's crisp then add the butter and melt.  Add the onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes.  Then add the diced peppers and cook for a couple of minutes.    Then add corn to the onion/pepper mixture and cook for a few minutes.

Sprinkle the flour evenly over the mixture, stir to combine.  Stir in broth and stir well.  Allow this to thicken for 3-4 minutes and turn the heat to low.  Stir in half and half then cover and allow this to thicken/simmer for about 15-18 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.  Stir in cheeses and green onions.  When the cheese is melted and it's all nice and hot, ladle out into the hollowed out bowels.  Serve immediately and enjoy.